EWG finds irregularities in GCC polls

Staff Correspondent: Election Working Group (EWG) found irregularities during the Gazipur City Corporation (GCC) election held on June 26.

The irregularities they found include ballot stuffing, campaigning within 400 yards of polling centres, presence of unauthorised persons in the polling booths, incidents of violence, biased position of the law enforcers, and bar on voters to cast votes.

Specific irregularities were found at 45 per cent centres, said Dr Md Abdul Alim, director of Election Working Group, said in press briefing at National Press Club in the capital on Thursday.

61.9 per cent votes were cast in the election, according to EWG.

The election monitoring group came up with the observation by studying election at 129 centres among the total 425 centres across which the elections were held.

The group observed presence of Awami League polling agents at 96.9 per cent of the centres and BNP polling agents at 81.4 per cent of centers they observed at the beginning of the polls.

However, they acknowledged that they did not monitor how many polling agents were present throughout the day.

The EWG is a non-partisan network of 28 leading civil society organisations in Bangladesh that was formed in 2006 with the shared goal of enhancing the transparency and accountability of elections and other democratic processes in the country.
 

risingbd/Dhaka/June 28, 2018/Saon/A K Azad